V.54. What Christ hath obtained according to the flesh, by the union of his flesh with Deity.

LIV. If then both natures do remain with their properties in Christ thus distinct as hath been shewed, we are for our better understanding what either nature receiveth from other, to note, that Christ is by three degrees a receiver: first, in that he is the Son of God; secondly, in that his human nature hath had the honour of union with Deity bestowed upon it; thirdly, in that by means thereof sundry eminent graces have flowed as effects from Deity into that nature which is coupled with it. On Christ therefore there is bestowed the gift of eternal generation, the gift of union, and the gift of unction.

By the gift of eternal generation Christ hath received of the Father one and in number the selfsame substance¹, which the Father hath of himself unreceived from any other. For every beginning² is a Father unto that which cometh of it; and every offspring is a Son unto that out of which it groweth. Seeing therefore the Father alone is originally³ that Deity which Christ originally⁴ is not, (for Christ is God by being of God⁵, light by issuing out of light⁶,) it followeth hereupon that whatsoever Christ hath common unto him with his heavenly Father⁷, the same of necessity must be given him, but naturally and eternally given⁸, not bestowed by way of benevolence and favour, as the other gifts both are. And therefore where the Fathers give it out for a rule⁹, that whatsoever Christ is said in Scripture to have received, the same we ought to apply only to the manhood of Christ; their assertion is true of all things which Christ hath received by grace, but to that which he hath received of the Father by eternal nativity or birth it reacheth not.

Touching union of Deity with manhood, it is by grace, because there can be no greater grace shewed towards man, than that God should vouchsafe to unite to man’s nature the person of his only begotten Son. Because¹⁰ “the Father loveth the Son” as man, he hath by uniting Deity with manhood, “given all things into his hands.” ¹¹It hath pleased the Father, that in him “all fulness should dwell.” ¹²The “name” which he hath “above all names” is given him. “¹³As the Father hath life in himself,” the “Son in himself hath life also” by the gift of the Father. The gift whereby God hath made Christ a fountain of life is that¹⁴ “conjunction of the nature of God with the nature of man” in the person of Christ, “which gift,” (saith Christ to the woman of Samaria¹⁵,) “if thou didst know and in that respect understand who it is which asketh water of thee, thou wouldest ask of him that he might give thee living water.” The union therefore of the flesh with Deity is to that flesh a gift of principal grace and favour. For by virtue of this grace, man is really made God, a creature is exalted above the dignity of all creatures, and hath all creatures else under it.

This admirable union of God with man can enforce in that higher nature no alteration¹⁶, because unto God there is nothing more natural than not to be subject to any change. Neither is it a thing impossible that the Word being made flesh should be that which it was not before as touching the manner of subsistence, and yet continue in all qualities or properties of nature the same it was, because the incarnation of the Son of God consisteth merely in the union of natures, which union doth add perfection to the weaker, to the nobler no alteration at all. If therefore it be demanded what the person of the Son of God hath attained by assuming manhood, surely, the whole sum of all is this, to be as we are truly, really, and naturally man, by means whereof he is made capable of meaner offices than otherwise his person could have admitted, the only gain he thereby purchased for himself was to be capable of loss and detriment for the good of others.

But may it rightly be said concerning the incarnation of Jesus Christ, that as our nature hath in no respect changed his, so from his to ours as little alteration hath ensued? The very cause of his taking upon him our nature was to change it, to better the quality, and to advance the condition thereof, although in no sort to abolish the substance which he took, nor to infuse into it the natural forces and properties of his Deity. As therefore we have shewed how the Son of God by his incarnation hath changed the manner of that personal subsistence which before was solitary, and is now in the association of flesh, no alteration thereby accruing to the nature of God; so neither are the properties of man’s nature in the person of Christ by force and virtue of the same conjunction so much altered, as not to stay within those limits which our substance is bordered withal; nor the state and quality of our substance so unaltered, but that there are in it many glorious effects proceeding from so near copulation with Deity¹⁷. God from us can receive nothing, we by him have obtained much. For albeit the natural properties of Deity be not communicable to man’s nature, the supernatural gifts graces and effects thereof are.

The honour which our flesh hath by being the flesh of the Son of God is in many respects great. If we respect but that which is common unto us with him, the glory provided for him and his in the kingdom of heaven, his right and title thereunto even in that he is man differeth from other men’s, because he is that man of whom God is himself a part. We have right to the same inheritance with Christ, but not the same right which he hath, his being such as we cannot reach, and ours such as he cannot stoop unto.

Furthermore, to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life; to be the Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, Resurrection; to be the Peace of the whole world, the Hope of the righteous, the Heir of all things; to be that supreme Head whereunto all power both in heaven and in earth is given: these are not honours common unto Christ with other men, they are titles above the dignity and worth of any which were but a mere man, yet true of Christ even in that he is man, but man with whom Deity is personally joined, and unto whom it hath added those excellencies which make him more than worthy thereof.

Finally, sith God hath deified our nature, though not by turning it into himself, yet by making it his own inseparable habitation, we cannot now conceive how God should without man either exercise divine power¹⁸, or receive the glory of divine praise. For man is in both an associate of Deity¹⁹.

But to come to the grace of unction: did the parts of our nature, the soul and body of Christ, receive by the influence of Deity wherewith they were matched no ability of operation, no virtue or quality above nature? Surely as the sword which is made fiery doth not only cut by reason of the sharpness which simply it hath, but also burn by means of that heat which it hath from fire²⁰, so there is no doubt but the Deity of Christ hath enabled that nature which it took of man to do more than man in this world hath power to comprehend; forasmuch as (the bare essential properties of Deity excepted) he hath imparted unto it all things, he hath replenished it with all such perfections as the same is any way apt to receive²¹, at the least according to the exigence of that economy or service for which it pleased him in love and mercy to be made man. For as the parts, degrees, and offices of that mystical administration did require which he voluntarily undertook, the beams of Deity did in operation always accordingly either restrain²² or enlarge themselves.

From hence we may somewhat conjecture how the powers of that soul are illuminated, which being so inward unto God cannot choose but be privy unto all things which God worketh, and must therefore of necessity be endued with knowledge so far forth universal²³, though not with infinite knowledge peculiar to Deity itself. The soul of Christ that saw in this life the face of God was here through so visible presence of Deity filled with all manner graces and virtues in that unmatchable degree of perfection, for which of him we read it written, “That God with the oil of gladness anointed him above his fellows²⁴.”

And as God hath in Christ unspeakably glorified the nobler, so likewise the meaner part of our nature, the very bodily substance of man. Where also that must again be remembered which we noted before concerning degrees of the influence of Deity proportionable unto his own purposes, intents, and counsels. For in this respect his body which by natural condition was corruptible wanted the gift of everlasting immunity from death, passion, and dissolution, till God which gave it to be slain for sin had for righteousness’ sake restored it to life with certainty of endless continuance. Yea in this respect the very glorified body of Christ retained in it the scars and marks of former mortality²⁵.

But shall we say that in heaven his glorious body by virtue of the same cause hath now power to present itself in all places and to be every where at once present? We nothing doubt but God hath many ways above the reach of our capacities exalted that body which it hath pleased him to make his own, that body wherewith he hath saved the world, that body which hath been and is the root of eternal life, the instrument wherewith Deity worketh, the sacrifice which taketh away sin, the price which hath ransomed souls from death, the leader of the whole army of bodies that shall rise again. For though it had a beginning from us, yet God hath given it vital efficacy, heaven hath endowed it with celestial power, that virtue it hath from above, in regard whereof all the angels of heaven adore it. Notwithstanding²⁶ a body still it continueth, a body consubstantial with our bodies, a body of the same both nature and measure which it had on earth.

To gather therefore into one sum all that hitherto hath been spoken touching this point, there are but four things which concur to make complete the whole state of our Lord Jesus Christ: his Deity, his manhood, the conjunction of both, and the distinction of the one from the other being joined in one. Four principal heresies there are which have in those things withstood the truth: Arians by bending themselves against the Deity of Christ; Apollinarians by maiming and misinterpreting that which belongeth to his human nature; Nestorians by rending Christ asunder, and dividing him into two persons; the followers of Eutyches by confounding in his person those natures which they should distinguish. Against these there have been four most famous ancient general councils: the council of Nice to define against Arians, against Apollinarians the council of Constantinople, the council of Ephesus against Nestorians, against Eutychians the Chalcedon council. In four words, ἀληθω̑ς, τελέως, ἀδιαιρέτως, ἀσυγχύτως, truly, perfectly, indivisibly, distinctly, the first applied to his being God, and the second to his being Man, the third to his being of both One, and the fourth to his still continuing in that one Both, we may fully by way of abridgment comprise whatsoever antiquity hath at large handled either in declaration of Christian belief, or in refutation of the foresaid heresies. Within the compass of which four heads, I may truly affirm, that all heresies which touch but the person of Jesus Christ, whether they have risen in these later days, or in any age heretofore, may be with great facility brought to confine themselves.

We conclude therefore that to save the world it was of necessity the Son of God should be thus incarnate, and that God should so be in Christ as hath been declared.

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Footnotes

1. “Nativitas Dei non potest non eam ex qua profecta est tenere naturam. Neque enim aliud quam Deus subsistit qui non aliunde quam ex Deo Deus subsistit.” Hilar. de Trin. lib. v. [§ 37.] “Cum sit gloria, sempiternitate, virtute, regno, potestate, hoc quod Pater est, omnia tamen hæc non sine auctore sicut Pater, sed ex Patre tanquam Filius sine initio et æqualis habet.” Ruffin. in Symb. Apost. cap. 9. [ad calcem Cypr. Fell. p. 19.] “Filium aliunde non deduco, sed de substantia Patris, … omnem a Patre consecutum potestatem.” Tertull. contra Prax. [c. 4.] ↩

2. Ephes. iii. 15. πα̑σα πατριὰ, “quicquid alteri quovis modo dat esse.” [So the Vulgate, “Omnis Paternitas.” Tertull. contra Prax. c. 8. “Omnis origo parens est, et omne quod ex origine profertur, progenies est; multo magis Sermo Dei, qui etiam proprie nomen filii accepit.”] ↩

3. Jac. i. 17. Pater luminum, Υἱου̑ τε καὶ Πνεύματος δηλονότι. Pachym. (of C. P. 1242-1308.) in Dionys. de cœl. Hierar. cap. 1. [ed. Corder. i. p. 10.] Pater est principium totius divinitatis, quia ipse a nullo est. Non enim habet de quo procedat, sed ab eo et Filius est genitus et Spiritus Sanctus procedit. Aug. de Trinit. lib. iv. cap. 20. [t. viii. 829.] Hinc Christus deitatis loco nomen ubique Patris usurpat, quia Pater nimirum est πηγαι̑α θεότης. [vid. Dionys. Areop. de Divinis Nominibus, c. ii. § 7.] ↩

4. “Pater tota substantia est, Filius vero derivatio totius et propagatio.” Tertull. contra Prax. [c. 9.] ↩

5. “Quod enim Deus est, ex Deo est.” Hilar. de Trin. lib. v. [§ 39.] “Nihil nisi natum habet Filius.” Hilar. de Trin. lib. iv. [§ 10.] ↩

6. Ἀπαύγασμα τη̑ς δόξης. Heb. i. 3. Ἔστιν ἀπόρροια τη̑ς του̑ παντοκράτορος δόξης εἰλικρινής·—ἀπαύγασμα—ϕωτὸς ἀϊδίου. Sap. vii. 25, 26. ↩

7. “Nihil in se diversum ac dissimile habent natus et generans.” [“Neque rursum dissimilis esse possit natus et generans.”] Hilar. de Syn. advers. Arian. [§ 22.] “In Trinitate alius atque alius, non aliud atque aliud.” Vincent. Lir. cap. 19. [in Bibl. Patr. Colon. iv. 242. B.] ↩

8. “Ubi auctor æternus est, ibi et nativitatis æternitas est: quia sicut nativitas ab auctore est, ita et ab æterno auctore æterna nativitas est.” Hilar. de Trin. lib. xii. [§ 21.] “Sicut naturam præstat Filio sine initio Generatio: ita Spiritus Sancti præstat essentiam sine initio Processio.” Aug. de Trin. lib. v. c. 15. ↩

9. Ὅσα λέγει ἡ γραϕὴ ὅτι ἔλαβεν ὁ Υἱὸς καὶ ἐδοξάσθη, διὰ τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα αὐτου̑ λέγει, οὐ τὴν θεότητα. Theod. fol. 42. [t. iv. pars i. 139. ex S. Athanas. t. i. pars i. 873. D. De Incarn. c. 4.] et ibid. 44. [149, 150.] ex Greg. Nazian. Orat. ii. de Fil. [t. i. 577, 588; et passim.] ↩

10. John iii. [35.] ↩

11. Ephes. i. [5;] [Col. i. 19.] ↩

12. Phil. ii. [9.] ↩

13. John v. 26. ↩

14. 1 John v. 20. “Hic est verus Deus et vita æterna.” ↩

15. John iv. 10. ↩

16. Ὥσπερ τω̑ν ἀνθρώπων κοινόν ἐστι τὸ θνητὸν, οὕτω τη̑ς ἁγίας Τριάδος κοινὸν τὸ ἄτρεπτόν τε καὶ ἀναλλοίωτον. Theodor. Dial. Ἄτρεπτος. [Dial. i. p. 9. tom. iv. pars i.] “Periculum status sui Deo nullum est.” Tertull. de Carn. Chr. [c. 3.] “Majestati Filii Dei corporea nativitas nihil contulit, nihil abstulit.” Leo de Nativit. Ser. vii. [c. 2.] Μένει ὃ ἠ̑ν ἀπ’ ἀρχη̑ς· Θεὸς μένει καὶ τὴν ἡμω̑ν ἐν ἑαυτῳ̑ παρασκευάζων ὕπαρξιν. Theophil. [of Alexandria: ap. Theodor. Dial. ii. p. 153. t. iv. pars i.] “In formam servi transisse non est naturam perdidisse Dei.” Hilar. de Trin. lib. xii. [§ 6.] ↩

17. [Ὃν μὲν νομίζομεν καὶ πεπείσμεθα ἀρχη̑θεν εἰ̑ναι Θεὸν καὶ Υἱὸν Θεου̑, οὑ̑τος ὁ αὐτολόγος ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ αὐτοσοϕία καὶ ἡ αὐτοαλήθεια· τὸ δὲ θνητὸν αὐτου̑ σω̑μα καὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἐν αὐτῳ̑ ψυχὴν, τῃ̑ πρὸς ἐκει̑νον οὐ μόνον κοινωνίᾳ ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑνώσει καὶ ἀνακράσει, τὰ μέγιστά ϕαμεν προσειληϕέναι, καὶ τη̑ς ἐκείνου Θεότητος κεκοινωνηκότα εἰς Θεὸν μεταβεβηκέναι. Orig. cont. Cels. iii. 41.] ↩

18. Μετέχει ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη τη̑ς θείας ἐνεργείας. Theod. [Eran. ii. p. 172. from Apollinarius.] ↩

19. Ἡ δεξιὰ του̑ Θεου̑ ἡ ποιητικὴ τω̑ν ὄντων τω̑ν πάντων, ἥτις ἐστὶν ὁ Κύριος δι’ οὑ̑ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, αὕτη τὸν ἑνωθέντα πρὸς αὐτὴν ἄνθρωπον εἰς τὸ ἴδιον ἀνήγαγεν ὕψος διὰ τη̑ς ἑνώσεως. Gregor. Nyss. apud Theod. [Dial. ii. p. 152. t. iv. pars i.] Ἀπὸ τη̑ς ϕύσεως τη̑ς ση̑ς λαβὼν απαρχὴν ἐκάθισεν ἐπάνω πάσης ἀρχη̑ς καὶ ἐξουσίας. Chrys. in Psal. xli. [t. i. p. 614. ed. Eton. 1612.] ↩

20. [Compare Theodoret, Eranistes, Dial. ii. p. 116, and Apollinar. ap. Theod. ibid. 171.] ↩

21. Luc. ii. 47. ↩

22. Ἡσυχάζοντος μὲν του̑ Λόγου ἐν τῳ̑ πειράζεσθαι καὶ σταυρου̑σθαι καὶ ἀποθνήσκειν, συγγινομένου δὲ τῳ̑ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐν τῳ̑ νικᾳ̑ν καὶ ὑπομένειν καὶ χρηστεύεσθαι καὶ ἀνίστασθαι καὶ ἀναλαμβάνεσθαι. Theod. [Dial. iii. t. iv. pars i. 232.] et Iren. lib. iii. advers. Hæres. [p. 250. ed. Grabe.] Matth. xxvii. 46. ↩

23. Col. ii. 3. ↩

24. Isa. xi. 2; lxi. 1; Luke iv. 18; Acts iv. 27; Heb. i. 9; 2 Cor. i. 21; 1 John ii. 20. 27. ↩

25. John xx. 27. [Theodoret, Eran. ii. p. 120.] ↩

26. Μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἀθάνατον μέν ἐστι καὶ ἄϕθαρτον καὶ θείας δόξης μεστὸν, σω̑μα δὲ ὅμως τὴν οἰκείαν ἔχον περιγραϕήν. Theod. fol. 80. [t. iv. pars 1. p. 122. τὸ δεσποτικὸν τοιγαρου̑ν σω̑μα ἄϕθαρτον μὲν ἀνέστη, καὶ ἀπαθὲς, καὶ ἀθάνατον, καὶ τῃ̑ θείᾳ δόξῃ δεδοξασμένον, καὶ παρὰ τω̑ν ἐπουρανίων προσκυνει̑ται δυνάμεων· σω̑μα δὲ ὅμως ἐστὶ, τὴν προτέραν ἔχων περιγραϕήν.] ↩